The present invention relates generally to an on-vehicle electronic apparatus and an information notification method for use on a vehicle for providing its driver with various information and amusements.
Today, many automobiles are equipped with various on-vehicle electronic devices such as navigators, sound players, and video players. These devices navigate an automobile to a desired destination by displaying the planned route and current position for example of the automobile and reproduce music and video for the entertainment of the driver and other occupants.
However, the above-mentioned on-vehicle electronic devices are passive in operation, or they operate only in accordance with the instructions given by the driver. These conventional electronic devices are unable to navigate automobiles with flexibility in accordance with their driving states and traffic congestion conditions for example and unable to provide the driver with mental comforts in response to their physical conditions, thereby sometimes making the driver get bored.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an on-vehicle electronic apparatus and an information notification method for flexibly changing planned routes to a destination in accordance with automobile""s driving states and traffic congestion conditions for example and timely providing the driver with mental comforts in according with their physical conditions, thereby preventing the driver from getting bored.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an on-vehicle electronic apparatus including driving state detection means for detecting a driving state of an automobile, positional information collection means for collecting positional information about the automobile, decision means for statistically deciding information supplied from the driving state detecting means and the positional information collecting means, and notification means for notifying a driver of the automobile of the statistically decided information.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information notification method including the steps of detecting a driving state of an automobile, collecting positional information about the automobile, deciding information supplied from the driving state detecting means and the positional information collecting means, and notifying a driver of the automobile of the statistically decided information.